The US Central Command CENTCOM said on May 7 (local time) that US forces had attacked Iranian military facilities that Washington accused of being involved in a series of attacks with missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and speedboats targeting US warships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement, CENTCOM stated: "US forces intercepted unwarranted attacks from Iran and launched self-defense countermeasures as US Navy guided-missile destroyers moved through the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman on May 7th.
According to CENTCOM, Iran's targets attacked by the US include "missile launchers and UAVs, command-control centers, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance facilities".
A US official revealed that airstrikes were carried out at many locations, including Bandar Abbas and Iran's Qeshm Island.
CENTCOM's statement added: "Iranian forces launched many missiles, UAVs and deployed speedboats as USS Truxtun (DDG 103), USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) and USS Mason (DDG 87) ships moved through international shipping routes. No US equipment was hit.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces informed that US airstrikes hit civilian areas along the coast of Qeshm, Bandar Khamir and Sirik islands.
The spokesman also accused the US of violating the current ceasefire by attacking an Iranian oil tanker heading towards the Strait of Hormuz.
According to a video broadcast by Iranian state media, Tehran has taken "commensurate retaliatory action" by attacking US military ships in the east of the Strait of Hormuz and south of Chabahar port.
Iranian state media also added that commercial facilities at Bahman wharf on Qeshm Island were hit by bullets in clashes between Iranian security forces and "rivals".
The US and Iran have been fighting continuously in recent days even though the ceasefire has been in effect for nearly a month.
Earlier at a press conference on May 6, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, said that Iran has attacked US forces more than 10 times since the ceasefire began, but no incidents have exceeded the threshold leading to the resumption of comprehensive operations.
The latest developments occurred after the US military neutralized an Iranian-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on May 6 by firing "many rounds of bullets" from a fighter jet into the ship's rudder as the ship tried to move towards an Iranian port.
According to CENTCOM, the oil tanker M/T Hasna was in international waters and on its way to an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman when US forces "many times issued warnings", claiming that the ship violated the current US blockade order.
In its latest statement, CENTCOM affirmed that US forces "do not seek to escalate tensions", but the US military is "ready to protect US forces".
